#Amazon, US #Tax and #Australian Citizens

Anything sold on Amazon – including self-published books – is subject to a 33% withholding tax.

This is a tax that Amazon must take out of the sale before you get your share.

This tax is applicable across the board and non-US citizens are not exempt.

Unless………..:

their country of origin has a trade treaty with the US

and they apply for an exemption under that trade treaty

As an Australian citizen, I am lucky enough to meet the ‘trade treaty’ criterion but until today, I did not apply for the exemption because:

I was not making enough money for it to matter, and

the process was just TOO HARD

I’m not sure what changed, or when exactly, but suddenly the process of applying for an exemption is so easy I’m still pinching myself in case I’m dreaming.

So what’s needed?

Your country of origin must have a trade treaty with the US

You must have an account with Kindle Direct Publishing [nah..really? lol]

You must have a tax file number [or equivalent] from your country of origin

Seriously, that’s it. With those three things you can log into Kindle Direct Publishing and fill in a very VERY easy online form and you’re done.

Log in to your KDP account

Select My Account

Select the option for Tax Interview

Have your tax file number handy

And start filling in the questions.

When you get to the page that asks if you want to do an electronic signature* – select YES

The electronic signature is nothing more than your typed name, email address [same as for logging into KDP] and ‘Submit’.

Be sure to print off a copy at the end and you’re done.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll sit there scratching your head and wondering how you can send an electronic signature. Is there a special program you have to invest in to create such a signature? Or do you have to print the page off, sign it manually and then post it off? Hah!

The answer to all those questions is a big, fat NO. There appears to be no valid reason for doing things the hard way, so don’t.

Having procrastinated for years, literally, I am so relieved to finally have this Sword of Damocles removed from my halo. Thank you IRS and thank you Amazon! Now if only I could be paid via PayPal or EFT I’d be delirious with happiness…

-smack- Don’t be greedy, girl!

Much happy dancing,

Meeks

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About acflory

I am the kind of person who always has to know why things are the way they are so my interests range from genetics and biology to politics and what makes people tick.
For fun I play online mmorpgs, read, listen to a music, dance when I get the chance and landscape my rather large block.
Work is writing. When a story I am working on is going well I'm on cloud nine. On bad days I go out and dig big holes...
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22 responses to “#Amazon, US #Tax and #Australian Citizens”

I put quite a bit of effort into organising the overseas withholding tax arrangements with Amazon when the process was overtaken by the change you’ve described here – luckily for me. It’s a lot easier now. The problem, of course, is shifting enough books to actually make it worthwhile…

That may be the case for US citizens but for us ‘foreigners’ it doesn’t apply. I first published on Amazon in 2013 and I’ve never had those thingies. By the same token, I’ve never had the withholding tax exemption either, until now.

Have you tried using Lulu publishing for your books? They sell direct to Amazon, barnes&Noble, Kindle, Kobo, iBookstore, etc. You’d still have to fill out the tax exemption form for the 30% tax, which is also online, but it’s so much easier than kdp. I thought I’d just mention this option in case it’s helpful to some who don’t like using kdp. Oh, and they pay via PayPal! 😀

Hehe! I chose Lulu over kdp because I hated the fact that they could give out your book for free whenever they wanted to as part of their free library! I guess it’s different strokes for different folks. 💗

I’m not sure to be honest. It was a while back when I was reading through the terms and conditions when I wanted to go through kdp and saw that. It might have been an extra add-on I was reading about, but it did put me off. There were a few other things that rang alarm bells but I guess with every service you choose, there will be limitations.
I love Lulu because I don’t have to re-list my books on other sites, be it paperback or ePub. They also put you on the Nielsen list so that libraries and bookstores can pick up your title from the listings. Global Reach does was it says. If my book doesn’t reach the standard of a site, I’m informed immediately and given help tips on what to do to get it there. Very handy for someone like me.

Don’t wish to be paid via PayPal… One of my clients started paying me via PayPal and they were taking a BIG chunk of my small payment checks. Now, we do direct bank-to-bank. Glad to hear the tax thing has be resolved. But be wary of payment systems that sound reasonable and turn out to be the opposite.

I’d prefer direct depost into my bank account but at them moment, as I’m not in the US, the only payment option is a cheque, in USD. So wait for cheque to arrive by snail mail. Remember to take it to bank and depost. Wait for currency conversion and cheque to clear back from the US….carrier pigeon could be faster. 😦